Airborne electronic equipment or other avionics equipment can be implemented aboard aircraft in a packaging style referred to as Line Replaceable Units (“LRUs”). The term “LRU” refers to a black box of electronics, such as a radio or other auxiliary equipment for a complex engineered system like an airplane or a ship. LRUs speed up installation and repair because they can be installed and replaced quickly. Typically, LRUs also reduce the cost and increase the quality of systems by spreading development costs of the type of unit over different models of vehicles.
LRUs are typically mounted in aircraft equipment racks. Although these equipment racks vary in size and construction, depending upon the aircraft, the racks uniformly provide the means to house the LRUs and secure the LRUs to the aircraft. The weight of the racks (including all LRUs) must be added to the unladen weight of the aircraft to determine the aircraft's total laden weight.
The racks must meet airworthiness standards set forth by the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”). The FAA guidelines dictate that the racks must withstand, without plastic deformation, defined ultimate inertia forces, which could occur in a crash, radical aircraft maneuvers, or other situations. The racks must also be heat- and fire-retardant, and corrosion-resistant, to comply with the FAA guidelines.